Wednesday, September 30, 2009

This is going to be a great presentation, not just because my staff is doing the presentation, but because it affects all areas of commercial and government BIM aspects. Topics will include BIM, LEED, architecture and construction.

Thursday, October 8, 2009 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Register to attend this informative live webcast and gain insight on how federal and local government project managers and government contractors are embracing these new technologies. Join us as we cover:

• An introduction to Building Information Modeling for government project owners that outlines the collaborative and financial benefits of requiring BIM for government building.
• A demonstration by experts in the field of BIM platform software for Architects, MEP, and Structural disciplines through the development of building models from design to documentation. Use of Autodesk Revit Suite, Autodesk Navisworks, Green Building Studio, and Ecotect Analysis for energy efficient design and LEED data requirements.
• How the use of BIM has brought government owners and contractors huge savings by reducing and eliminating RFI’s. With the use of BIM software, see how finding conflicts and problems in building designs prior to the start of construction will result in considerably high savings in time and money.
• A description of Implementation and Training through CADD Centers of Florida and success stories from those companies that CADD Centers has worked with locally and globally.
• Testimonials from contractors utilizing BIM for the completion of projects both required by GSA and also by private owner/developers

Are you a government project manger, building manger, or government contractor struggling with understanding the benefits of new design requirements to “go green” ?

How can BIM cut construction costs and reduce or completely eliminate RFI’s? How can LEED and sustainable design practices reduce energy consumption in buildings by over 30%?

IMPORTANT

This download is the latest update for Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 software as a standalone product and as part of AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Suite 2010 and AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Visualization Suite 2010 software.
It is available to users who have purchased a valid license for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010, AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite 2010 or AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite 2010, and is subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that appears during installation.
For a list of improvements, please download the Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 Update Enhancement List:

Update 2 – September 2009Important Note:
Update 2 is not a full install; rather it is using service pack technology similar to AutoCAD®- based products. Prior to installing the Update 2, please verify that you have already installed the First Customer Ship build of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 which is available below. Before You DownloadPlease read before downloading and installing:

Update Enhancement List
Improvements made in Update 2 build (20090917_1515):
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 Enhancements
 Annotation objects no longer disappear when panning a view that spans two monitors.
 Improves stability when switching between Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 software and Google
Earth™ software.
 Improves the modification behavior of hosted sweeps (i.e. gutters) attached to joined roofs.
 Improves stability and performance when modifying walls.
 Improvements to shared nested families.
 Improves stability when modifying masses.
 Improves design option rules adherence for walls in different design options and worksets .
 Family and type information can now be read in Autodesk® 3ds Max® software from an FBX® file
exported from a non-English version of Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010.
 Improves stability when adding views to sheets.
 Improves stability when making a design option primary.
 Improves stability of printing views in wireframe mode.
 Shadows will no longer be cropped when a view is printed or exported to a DWF™ file.
 Subscription notifications are now available from InfoCenter.
 Improves stability when reading IFC files.
 Improves stability when opening a project with an inserted TIF image and when importing a TIF image.
 ViewCube® navigation tool and the navigation bar will now display correctly after unlocking the
computer.
 Improves stability when removing panels from the ribbon.
 Improves stability when cancelling a move, delete or copy command.
 Improves performance of view renaming and the Workset dialog.
 Mass floor schedules will now update when a level is renamed.
 A form element that has a divided surface applied to it will now be correctly generated after a copy,
paste, or move.
 Improves stability when exporting to DWG.
 Dimension and spot elevation values will now display correctly in a dependent view.
Autodesk® Revit® API 2010 Enhancements
 Improves stability when subscribed to a DocumentOpened event.

IMPORTANT

This download is the latest update for Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010 software as part of the AutoCAD® Revit® MEP Suite 2010 software.
It is available to users who have purchased a valid license for AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2010 software, and is subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that appears during installation.
For a list of improvements, please download the Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010 Update Enhancement List:

Update 2 – September 2009Important Note:
Update 2 is not a full install; rather it is using service pack technology similar to AutoCAD® based products. Prior to installing the Update 2, please verify that you have already installed the First Customer Ship build of Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 which is available below. Before You DownloadPlease read before downloading and installing:

The service pack contains changes from the previous service pack (Update 1 - June 2009).

The service pack can be applied to both the standalone and suite versions of Autodesk Revit MEP 2010.

Improvements made in Update 2 build (20090917_1515):

Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010 Enhancements
 Wire length in the Circuit Properties dialog will now display “Not Computed” for the wire length when a
panel has not yet been assigned to a circuit.
 The calculation of complex space volumes for heating and cooling loads has been improved.
 Panel and circuit information can now be displayed in a mechanical equipment schedule.
 Improved the ability to swap one type of pipe or duct accessory for another type of pipe or duct
accessory.
 When use of the Split tool on a duct segment creates a union, the union is no longer automatically
deleted when a new duct is connected to the union.
 Improvement of a duct segment centerline alignment when rotated in an elevation view.
 Windows and doors set as demolished will no longer appear in a gbXml export.
 Improved stability when copying elements from one family to another in the Family Editor.
 When the Create Similar tool is used for a sloped pipe, the slope is now properly maintained for the
new pipe.

IMPORTANT

This download is the latest update for Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010 software as a standalone and as part of the AutoCAD® Revit® Structure Suite 2010 software.
It is available to users who have purchased a valid license for Autodesk Revit Structure 2010 or AutoCAD Revit Structure Suite 2010 software, and is subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that appears during installation.
For a list of improvements, please download the Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010 Web Update Enhancement List:

Update 2 – September 2009Important Note:
Update 1 is not a full install; rather it is using service pack technology similar to AutoCAD ®-based products. Prior to installing the Update 1, please verify that you have already installed the First Customer Ship build of Autodesk Revit Structure 2010 which is available below. Before You Download
Please read before downloading and installing:

Well, it looks like we've officially reached full speed on BIM. After the release last week of McGraw-Hill's latest report, I'm officially bored of BIM. Well, bored about blogging about BIM. Actually, bored about blogging about the benefits of BIM. If you don't get it by now, you're more stubborn than I am.

How long did it take for AutoCAD to reach critical mass? How long did it take from 1982 before everyone stopped insisting hand drafting was faster? If it was less than the 9 years that Revit has been out in existence, then it's time to get serious about the technology you're using.

How there are still people who haven't seen Revit or BIM in action is beyond me. Now that my company has moved into the LEED phase of BIM, who's got time to convince R14 users to switch. I was contacted today by an A/E firm with offices in 27 countries who was looking to do LEED EQ 8.1 with the IES VE Toolkit. It's great to be moving into the building performance analysis arena. It was even more interesting to me because I got the call while driving to yet another electrical contractor who was looking to move to Revit from AutoCAD LT.

Autodesk has a $2495 promotion going on now to make it easier to make the jump. They had been considering AutoCAD MEP, but when I brough in one of their AutoCAD drawings into Revit, added walls, ceilings and light fixtures, they couldn't think of a good reason to do learn anything other than Revit MEP.

After 2 years on the road doing over 100 presentations about the what-why-where-when-who-and-how of BIM to every kind of audience imaginable, I'm realizing what has finally come to be: that the hot-button buzz-phrase "BIM" is now settling comfortably into not being "the next new thing" anymore. After years of being overused, overheated, overloaded, overrated, overhyped, oversexed, overindulged, overjustified and waaaay overexplained, now it's just "over".

With about half the North American AEC industry already up off their beach chairs and at least wading ankle-deep in the BIM surf, we can stop hyperventilating about "BIM" and just do BIM as a regular course of business. The adoption and implementation research I just completed for the new SmartMarket Report: "Getting BIM to the Bottom Line" leads me to believe that two years from now we should expect that almost 40% of the US projects in design will be being modeled to a significant degree. That should be (God-willing) about $250B worth of BIM work.So now what will the "next new thing" be? I've got some ideas and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Yours, from the BIM road.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I hope you all forgive me for the comics the last few days. I needed a blog break. I try not to automatically schedule blogs posts, but once in a while, I need a vacation from the endless stream of data.

As I delve into the new areas of the blog of construction and sustainability, some of my architecture readers may not see the relevance or importance of these posts. BIM has reached critical mass. The contractors are all on board with BIM. Consider these posts spying on their private meetings and use this information to get some insight into how and why they're marketing BIM.

I got a call tonight from a project manager at shopping center developer. His last project was $140 million and there were $30 million dollars in change orders. There were 1100 RFIs and 75% of them were MEP or architectural conflicts. He's coming in to take our Revit class in 2 weeks and said that they'll never hire another CAD based architect again. $30 million in change orders. That's a 21% overage. He's embarrased that they have no idea what the project is going to cost until 6 months after the project is over. My favorite part about the story....he's an architect by education, went into construction and development and only learned about Revit 3 months ago. This is your new reality.

If you were personally liable for every change order as an architect, what would you do different? Would you switch to Revit then? Now you know why I'm working with the construction lawyers on BIM. Thanks to CAD projects and all of these problems, they're recession proof. A lot of construction lawyers don't want BIM. It's taking away their best business. Think about that one....

Back from the AGC BIM Forum in Dallas: "The AGC BIM Forum was held last week in Dallas at the Omni Hotel. According to a quick show of hands, about 50% of the attendees were new to BIM and to the BIM Forum. (These events always remind me that there are a lot of people out there that are just getting introduced to BIM.) It's always great to meet new people and help them get started on the path to better understanding how BIM can help improve their projects.

The event started with a presentation from Mike LeFevre, Holder Construction. He focused on the fact that Contractors might be slowly getting themselves into the shop drawing business as they build models with higher level of detail. BIM applications allow the contractor to generate floor plan, section and elevation views easily. Therefore, drawings are a simple byproduct of the detailed coordination model. (Holder Construction and Vico shared last year's Vision Award for best application of BIM.)

Some of the typical use cases listed by Mike were:

Virtual Mock-Up - drawings can be used to communicate details of the façade and help solve complex constructability issues

In-Wall Coordination - interior elevations can generate and used to coordinate receptacles and built-in furniture

Virtual User Testing - 3D renderings can be used to help the client validate the program and the layout of mission critical spaces.

Gerdau Ameristeel presented the Fast Frame process that streamlines the construction process of steel structures by eliminating the gaps between the engineer, general contractor, sub contractor, detailer and material supplier. The Fast Frame process calls for a Steel Team or Steel Alliance on a project that fosters better communication and interaction between all project stakeholders. It is essentially a mini IPD for the steel scope of the building that results in significant schedule compression.

The first day continued with a presentation from John Moebles of Crate and Barrel. This eye-opening presentation focused on the real ROI of BIM. Crate and Barrel has been engaged in using BIM for several years now. BIM is mostly used for coordination by the design team and the construction team on their projects. According to the owner they have not seen significant ROI on performing coordination only. It helped prevent delays and reduce field change orders, but making the project "less bad" doesn't yield significant savings compared to past projects.

On the first day there were also many discussions around model based estimating both for conceptual and preconstruction phase purposes. This topic is slowly making its way to the spotlight as more and more companies are trying to take advantage of BIM in more ways than just coordination. The day ended with the rapid fire technology demonstrations where we had a chance to debut Vico Office and show it in action.

The second day continued with many sessions about the various ways to split and manage multiple models across the network. The Forum closed with a discussion about ROI where multiple contractors discussed various case studies about savings achieved using BIM for coordination.

It is great to see the industry now stepping beyond using BIM only for coordination and taking the next step into model-based quantity takeoff, estimating and scheduling. However there are still a lot of companies out there that are just starting to learn more about BIM. I guess it's never late to start!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

You're kidding me, right? Did you really have to remember and use all of these day after day? The irony is how often the dimensions got exploded and false measurements typed in to make the dimensions work.

I'm taking a dim view of AutoCAD right now. It just seems way too complicated.

The DIM Variables (and the release they were introduced). Plus a quick outline of what they do.DIMADEC (R14) – Controls the number of precision places displayed in angular dimensions.DIMALT (R12) – Controls the display of alternate units in dimensions.DIMALTD (R12) – Controls the number of decimal places in alternate units. If DIMALT is turned on, DIMALTD sets the number of digits displayed to the right of the decimal point in the alternate measurement.DIMALTF (R12) – Controls the multiplier for alternate units. If DIMALT is turned on, DIMALTF multiplies linear dimensions by a factor to produce a value in an alternate system of measurement. The initial value represents the number of millimeters in an inch.DIMALTRND (2000) – Rounds off the alternate dimension units.DIMALTTD (R13) – Sets the number of decimal places for the tolerance values in the alternate units of a dimension.DIMALTTZ (R13) – Controls suppression of zeros in tolerance values.DIMALTU (R13) – Sets the units format for alternate units of all dimension substyles except Angular.DIMALTZ (R13) – Controls the suppression of zeros for alternate unit dimension values. DIMALTZ values 0-3 affect feet-and-inch dimensions only.DIMANNO (2008) – Indicates whether or not the current dimension style is annotative.DIMAPOST (R12) – Specifies a text prefix or suffix (or both) to the alternate dimension measurement for all types of dimensions except angular. For instance, if the current units are Architectural, DIMALT is on, DIMALTF is 25.4 (the number of millimeters per inch), DIMALTD is 2, and DIMPOST is set to “mm,” a distance of 10 units would be displayed as 10″[254.00mm]. To turn off an established prefix or suffix (or both), set it to a single period (.)DIMARCSYM (2007) – Controls display of the arc symbol in an arc length dimension.
0 Places arc length symbols before the dimension text
1 Places arc length symbols above the dimension text
2 Suppresses the display of arc length symbolsDIMASO (R12) – Obsolete. Retained in the product to preserve the integrity of scripts. See DIMASSOC.DIMASSOC (2002) – Controls the associativity of dimension objects and whether dimensions are exploded.DIMASZ (R12) – Controls the size of dimension line and leader line arrowheads. Also controls the size of hook lines. Multiples of the arrowhead size determine whether dimension lines and text should fit between the extension lines. DIMASZ is also used to scale arrowhead blocks if set by DIMBLK. DIMASZ has no effect when DIMTSZ is other than zero.DIMATFIT (2000) – Determines how dimension text and arrows are arranged when space is not sufficient to place both within the extension lines.
0 Places both text and arrows outside extension lines
1 Moves arrows first, then text
2 Moves text first, then arrows
3 Moves either text or arrows, whichever fits best
A leader is added to moved dimension text when DIMTMOVE is set to 1.DIMAUNIT (R13) – Sets the units format for angular dimensions.
0 Decimal degrees
1 Degrees/minutes/seconds
2 Gradians
3 RadiansDIMAZIN (2000) – Suppresses zeros for angular dimensions.
0 Displays all leading and trailing zeros
1 Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000)
2 Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5)
3 Suppresses leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5)DIMBLK (R12) – Sets the arrowhead block displayed at the ends of dimension lines or leader lines. To return to the default, closed-filled arrowhead display, enter a single period (.). You can also enter the names of user-defined arrowhead blocks.
Standard blocks shown below. Note: Annotative blocks cannot be used as custom arrowheads for dimensions or leaders.
“” = closed filled
“_DOT” = dot
“_DOTSMALL” = dot small
“_DOTBLANK”= dot blank
“_ORIGIN” = origin indicator
“_ORIGIN2″ = origin indicator 2
“_OPEN” = open
“_OPEN90″ = right angle
“_OPEN30″ = open 30
“_CLOSED” = closed
“_SMALL” = dot small blank
“_NONE” = none
“_OBLIQUE” = oblique
“_BOXFILLED” = box filled
“_BOXBLANK” = box
“_CLOSEDBLANK” = closed blank
“_DATUMFILLED” = datum triangle filled
“_DATUMBLANK” = datum triangle
“_INTEGRAL” = integral
“_ARCHTICK” = architectural tickDIMBLK1 (R12) – Sets the arrowhead for the first end of the dimension line when DIMSAH is on. To return to the default, closed-filled arrowhead display, enter a single period (.). DIMBLK2(R12) – Sets the arrowhead for the second end of the dimension line when DIMSAH is on. To return to the default, closed-filled arrowhead display, enter a single period (.). For a list of arrowhead entries, see DIMBLK.DIMCEN (R12) – Controls drawing of circle or arc center marks and centerlines by the DIMCENTER, DIMDIAMETER, and DIMRADIUS commands.
For DIMDIAMETER and DIMRADIUS, the center mark is drawn only if you place the dimension line outside the circle or arc.
0 No center marks or lines are drawn
<0 Centerlines are drawn
>0 Center marks are drawnDIMCLRD (R12) – Assigns colors to dimension lines, arrowheads, and dimension leader lines. Also controls the color of leader lines created with the LEADER command. Color numbers are displayed in the Select Color dialog box. For BYBLOCK, enter 0. For BYLAYER, enter 256. DIMCLRE (R12) – Assigns colors to dimension extension lines. Color numbers are displayed in the Select Color dialog box. For BYBLOCK, enter 0. For BYLAYER, enter 256.DIMCLRT (R12) – Assigns colors to dimension text. The color can be any valid color number. DIMCONSTRAINTICON (2010) – Displays the lock icon next to the text for dimensional constraints.
0 Does not display the lock icon next to the text for dimensional constraints
1 Displays the icon for dynamic constraints
2 Displays the icon for annotational constraints
3 Displays the icon for dynamic and annotational constraintsDIMDEC (R12) – Sets the number of decimal places displayed for the primary units of a dimension. The precision is based on the units or angle format you have selected.DIMDLE (R12) – Sets the distance the dimension line extends beyond the extension line when oblique strokes are drawn instead of arrowheads.DIMDLI (R12) – Controls the spacing of the dimension lines in baseline dimensions. Each dimension line is offset from the previous one by this amount, if necessary, to avoid drawing over it. Changes made with DIMDLI are not applied to existing dimensions.DIMDSEP (R14) – Specifies a single-character decimal separator to use when creating dimensions whose unit format is decimal. When prompted, enter a single character at the Command prompt. If dimension units is set to Decimal, the DIMDSEP character is used instead of the default decimal point. If DIMDSEP is set to NULL (default value, reset by entering a period), the decimal point is used as the dimension separator.DIMEXE (R12) – Specifies how far to extend the extension line beyond the dimension line.DIMEXO (R12) – Specifies how far extension lines are offset from origin points. With fixed-length extension lines, this value determines the minimum offset.DIMFIT (R12) – Obsolete, use DIMATFIT and DIMTMOVE instead. DIMFIT is replaced by DIMATFIT and DIMTMOVE. However, if DIMFIT is set to 0 – 3, then DIMATFIT is also set to 0 – 3 and DIMTMOVE is set to 0. If DIMFIT is set to 4 or 5, then DIMATFIT is set to 3 and DIMTMOVE is set to 1 or 2 respectively.DIMFRAC (2000) – Sets the fraction format when DIMLUNIT is set to 4 (Architectural) or 5 (Fractional).
0 Horizontal stacking
1 Diagonal stacking
2 Not stacked (for example, 1/2)DIMFXL (2007) – Sets the total length of the extension lines starting from the dimension line toward the dimension origin.DIMFXLON (2007) – Controls whether extension lines are set to a fixed length. When DIMFXLON is on, extension lines are set to the length specified by DIMFXL.DIMGAP (R12) – Sets the distance around the dimension text when the dimension line breaks to accommodate dimension text. Also sets the gap between annotation and a hook line created with the LEADER command. If you enter a negative value, DIMGAP places a box around the dimension text.
DIMGAP is also used as the minimum length for pieces of the dimension line. When the default position for the dimension text is calculated, text is positioned inside the extension lines only if doing so breaks the dimension lines into two segments at least as long as DIMGAP. Text placed above or below the dimension line is moved inside only if there is room for the arrowheads, dimension text, and a margin between them at least as large as DIMGAP: 2 * (DIMASZ + DIMGAP).DIMJOGANG (2007) – Determines the angle of the transverse segment of the dimension line in a jogged radius dimension. Jogged radius dimensions are often created when the center point is located off the page.DIMJUST (R13) – Controls the horizontal positioning of dimension text.
0 Positions the text above the dimension line and center-justifies it between the extension lines
1 Positions the text next to the first extension line
2 Positions the text next to the second extension line
3 Positions the text above and aligned with the first extension line
4 Positions the text above and aligned with the second extension lineDIMLDRBLK (2000) – Specifies the arrow type for leaders. To return to the default, closed-filled arrowhead display, enter a single period (.). For a list of arrowhead entries, see DIMBLK.
Note: Annotative blocks cannot be used as custom arrowheads for dimensions or leaders.DIMLFAC (R12) – Sets a scale factor for linear dimension measurements. All linear dimension distances, including radii, diameters, and coordinates, are multiplied by DIMLFAC before being converted to dimension text. Positive values of DIMLFAC are applied to dimensions in both model space and paper space; negative values are applied to paper space only.
DIMLFAC applies primarily to nonassociative dimensions (DIMASSOC set 0 or 1). For nonassociative dimensions in paper space, DIMLFAC must be set individually for each layout viewport to accommodate viewport scaling.
DIMLFAC has no effect on angular dimensions, and is not applied to the values held in DIMRND, DIMTM, or DIMTP.DIMLIM (R12) – Generates dimension limits as the default text. Setting DIMLIM to On turns DIMTOL off.
Off – Dimension limits are not generated as default text
On – Dimension limits are generated as default textDIMLTEX1 (2007) – Sets the linetype of the first extension line. The value is BYLAYER, BYBLOCK, or the name of a linetype.DIMLTEX2 (2007) – Sets the linetype of the second extension line. The value is BYLAYER, BYBLOCK, or the name of a linetype.DIMLTYPE (2007) – Sets the linetype of the dimension line. The value is BYLAYER, BYBLOCK, or the name of a linetype.DIMLUNIT (2000) – Sets units for all dimension types except Angular.
1 Scientific
2 Decimal
3 Engineering
4 Architectural (always displayed stacked)
5 Fractional (always displayed stacked)
6 Microsoft Windows Desktop (decimal format using Control Panel settings for decimal separator and number grouping symbols)DIMLWD (2000) – Assigns lineweight to dimension lines.
-3 Default (the LWDEFAULT value)
-2 BYBLOCK
-1 BYLAYERDIMLWE (2000) – Assigns lineweight to extension lines.
-3 Default (the LWDEFAULT value)
-2 BYBLOCK
-1 BYLAYERDIMPOST (R12) – Specifies a text prefix or suffix (or both) to the dimension measurement.
For example, to establish a suffix for millimeters, set DIMPOST to mm; a distance of 19.2 units would be displayed as 19.2 mm. If tolerances are turned on, the suffix is applied to the tolerances as well as to the main dimension.
Use <> to indicate placement of the text in relation to the dimension value. For example, enter <>mm to display a 5.0 millimeter radial dimension as “5.0mm.” If you entered mm <>, the dimension would be displayed as “mm 5.0.” Use the <> mechanism for angular dimensions.DIMRND (R12) – Rounds all dimensioning distances to the specified value.
For instance, if DIMRND is set to 0.25, all distances round to the nearest 0.25 unit. If you set DIMRND to 1.0, all distances round to the nearest integer. Note that the number of digits edited after the decimal point depends on the precision set by DIMDEC. DIMRND does not apply to angular dimensions.DIMSAH (R12) – Controls the display of dimension line arrowhead blocks.
Off – Use arrowhead blocks set by DIMBLK
On – Use arrowhead blocks set by DIMBLK1 and DIMBLK2DIMSCALE (R12) – Sets the overall scale factor applied to dimensioning variables that specify sizes, distances, or offsets. Also affects the leader objects with the LEADER command.
Use MLEADERSCALE to scale multileader objects created with the MLEADER command.
0.0 – A reasonable default value is computed based on the scaling between the current model space viewport and paper space. If you are in paper space or model space and not using the paper space feature, the scale factor is 1.0.
>0 – A scale factor is computed that leads text sizes, arrowhead sizes, and other scaled distances to plot at their face values.
DIMSCALE does not affect measured lengths, coordinates, or angles.
Use DIMSCALE to control the overall scale of dimensions. However, if the current dimension style is annotative, DIMSCALE is automatically set to zero and the dimension scale is controlled by the CANNOSCALE system variable. DIMSCALE cannot be set to a non-zero value when using annotative dimensions.DIMSD1 (R13) – Controls suppression of the first dimension line and arrowhead. When turned on, suppresses the display of the dimension line and arrowhead between the first extension line and the text.
Off – First dimension line is not suppressed
On – First dimension line is suppressedDIMSD2 (R13) – Controls suppression of the second dimension line and arrowhead. When turned on, suppresses the display of the dimension line and arrowhead between the second extension line and the text.
Off – Second dimension line is not suppressed
On – Second dimension line is suppressedDIMSE1 (R12) – Suppresses display of the first extension line.
Off – Extension line is not suppressed
On – Extension line is suppressedDIMSE2 (R12) – Suppresses display of the second extension line.
Off – Extension line is not suppressed
On – Extension line is suppressedDIMSHO (R12) – Obsolete – Has no effect except to preserve the integrity of scripts.DIMSOXD (R12) – Suppresses arrowheads if not enough space is available inside the extension lines.
Off – Arrowheads are not suppressed
On – Arrowheads are suppressed
If not enough space is available inside the extension lines and DIMTIX is on, setting DIMSOXD to On suppresses the arrowheads. If DIMTIX is off, DIMSOXD has no effect.DIMSTYLE (R12) – Stores the name of the current dimension style.
This system variable has the same name as a command. Use the SETVAR command to access this system variable. The DIMSTYLE system variable is read-only; to change the current dimension style, use the DIMSTYLE command.DIMTAD (R12) – Controls the vertical position of text in relation to the dimension line.
0 Centers the dimension text between the extension lines.
1 Places the dimension text above the dimension line except when the dimension line is not horizontal and text inside the extension lines is forced horizontal (DIMTIH = 1). The distance from the dimension line to the baseline of the lowest line of text is the current DIMGAP value.
2 Places the dimension text on the side of the dimension line farthest away from the defining points.
3 Places the dimension text to conform to Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS).
4 Places the dimension text below the dimension line. DIMTDEC (R13) – Sets the number of decimal places to display in tolerance values for the primary units in a dimension. This system variable has no effect unless DIMTOL is set to On. The default for DIMTOL is Off.DIMTFAC (R12) – Specifies a scale factor for the text height of fractions and tolerance values relative to the dimension text height, as set by DIMTXT.
For example, if DIMTFAC is set to 1.0, the text height of fractions and tolerances is the same height as the dimension text. If DIMTFAC is set to 0.7500, the text height of fractions and tolerances is three-quarters the size of dimension text. DIMTFILL (2007) – Controls the background of dimension text.
0 No background
1 The background color of the drawing
2 The background specified by DIMTFILLCLRDIMTFILLCLR (2007) – Sets the color for the text background in dimensions. Color numbers are displayed in the Select Color dialog box. For BYBLOCK, enter 0. For BYLAYER, enter 256.DIMTIH (R12) – Controls the position of dimension text inside the extension lines for all dimension types except Ordinate.
Off – Aligns text with the dimension line
On – Draws text horizontallyDIMTIX (R12) – Draws text between extension lines.
Off – Varies with the type of dimension. For linear and angular dimensions, text is placed inside the extension lines if there is sufficient room. For radius and diameter dimensions that don’t fit inside the circle or arc, DIMTIX has no effect and always forces the text outside the circle or arc.
On – Draws dimension text between the extension lines even if it would ordinarily be placed outside those linesDIMTM (R12) – Sets the minimum (or lower) tolerance limit for dimension text when DIMTOL or DIMLIM is on. DIMTM accepts signed values. If DIMTOL is on and DIMTP and DIMTM are set to the same value, a tolerance value is drawn. If DIMTM and DIMTP values differ, the upper tolerance is drawn above the lower, and a plus sign is added to the DIMTP value if it is positive. For DIMTM, the program uses the negative of the value you enter (adding a minus sign if you specify a positive number and a plus sign if you specify a negative number). DIMTMOVE (2000) – Sets dimension text movement rules.
0 Moves the dimension line with dimension text
1 Adds a leader when dimension text is moved
2 Allows text to be moved freely without a leaderDIMTOFL (R12) – Controls whether a dimension line is drawn between the extension lines even when the text is placed outside. For radius and diameter dimensions (when DIMTIX is off), draws a dimension line inside the circle or arc and places the text, arrowheads, and leader outside.
Off – Does not draw dimension lines between the measured points when arrowheads are placed outside the measured points
On – Draws dimension lines between the measured points even when arrowheads are placed outside the measured pointsDIMTOH (R12) – Controls the position of dimension text outside the extension lines.
Off – Aligns text with the dimension line
On – Draws text horizontallyDIMTOL (R12) – Appends tolerances to dimension text. Setting DIMTOL to on turns DIMLIM off.DIMTOLJ (R13) – Sets the vertical justification for tolerance values relative to the nominal dimension text. This system variable has no effect unless DIMTOL is set to On. The default for DIMTOL is Off.
0 – Bottom
1 – Middle
2 – TopDIMTP (R12) – Sets the maximum (or upper) tolerance limit for dimension text when DIMTOL or DIMLIM is on. DIMTP accepts signed values. If DIMTOL is on and DIMTP and DIMTM are set to the same value, a tolerance value is drawn. If DIMTM and DIMTP values differ, the upper tolerance is drawn above the lower and a plus sign is added to the DIMTP value if it is positive.DIMTSZ (R12) – Specifies the size of oblique strokes drawn instead of arrowheads for linear, radius, and diameter dimensioning.
0 – Draws arrowheads.
>0 – Draws oblique strokes instead of arrowheads. The size of the oblique strokes is determined by this value multiplied by the DIMSCALE valueDIMTVP (R12) – Controls the vertical position of dimension text above or below the dimension line. The DIMTVP value is used when DIMTAD is off. The magnitude of the vertical offset of text is the product of the text height and DIMTVP. Setting DIMTVP to 1.0 is equivalent to setting DIMTAD to on. The dimension line splits to accommodate the text only if the absolute value of DIMTVP is less than 0.7.DIMTXSTY (R13) – Specifies the text style of the dimension.DIMTXT (R12) – Specifies the height of dimension text, unless the current text style has a fixed height.DIMTXTDIRECTION (2010) – Specifies the reading direction of the dimension text.
0 – Displays dimension text in a Left-to-Right reading style
1 – Displays dimension text in a Right-to-Left reading style DIMTZIN (R13) – Controls the suppression of zeros in tolerance values.
Values 0-3 affect feet-and-inch dimensions only.
0 – Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches
1 – Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches
2 – Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches
3 – Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet
4 – Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000)
8 – Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5)
12 – Suppresses both leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5)DIMUNIT (R12) – Obsolete – Retained in the product to preserve the integrity of scripts. DIMUNIT is replaced by DIMLUNIT and DIMFRAC.DIMUPT (R13) – Controls options for user-positioned text.
Off – Cursor controls only the dimension line location
On – Cursor controls both the text position and the dimension line locationDIMZIN (R12) – Controls the suppression of zeros in the primary unit value.
Values 0-3 affect feet-and-inch dimensions only:
0 – Suppresses zero feet and precisely zero inches
1 – Includes zero feet and precisely zero inches
2 – Includes zero feet and suppresses zero inches
3 – Includes zero inches and suppresses zero feet
4 – Suppresses leading zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5000)
8 – Suppresses trailing zeros in decimal dimensions (for example, 12.5000 becomes 12.5)
12 – Suppresses both leading and trailing zeros (for example, 0.5000 becomes .5)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

...and then I come across stuff like this. An architecture firm actually touting their Revit software. They're a big LEED design firm so it makes sense they'd embrace BIM.

The irony of this post and it's completely coincidental, is that the author of the post is named Ryan Cadd.

>http://blog.lpainc.com/lpa-blog/bid/20431/Why-REVIT-Works

The term BIM, which as you may know stands for Building Information Modeling, has become kind of a buzz word within the industry that has been slowly gaining steam the last few years. Many people believe without doubt it is the future of project management and delivery of construction documents.

Being a young professional recently out of school, I've had the lucky opportunity to work with Revit for the last two years. For those that aren't familiar with Revit's potential, it only takes a look into the name's origin, which is short for "Revise Instantly". It was only a matter of time before AutoCad began to look antiquated, and more integrated design approaches that brought all disciplines into a single file and single model became the industry standard.

Here at LPA, we've begun to bring all of the various integrated sustainable design disciplines in-house, which I think directly relates to the adoption and full utilization of Revit and all its potential. I think coming out of architecture school, many students still don't know a whole lot about how a building actually goes together. This of course comes with time and experience. But the utilization of Revit, especially for us younger generation of designers, can help us see how buildings are actually constructed because we're actually modeling the building itself.

For myself personally, once I started using Revit, I was at once exposed to all the potential conflicts and problems that come with figuring out how a building is actually put together. My knowledge of construction increased exponentially over this period of time, and I gained experience that would have never come from sitting in a classroom. In a way we're building buildings before they're built.

This post at the Virginia Real Estate, Land Use & Construction Law Blog raises a number of the issues about LEED that I have been speaking about for a while. Is LEED going to win out, or will other green regulations take precedence? What is going to happen when buildings start getting decertified? What about evaluation of building performance?

Finally, you may ask why I post so much about green construction. The reason is it is not only the wave of the future, it is now. Even the White House is moving towards LEED certification. Builders who ignore developments in green building are keeping their heads in the sand.

I was on the phone today with Jeff Pinheiro, better known as "TheRevitKid.com" and we were discussing a number of topics on BIM, LEED, IPD (and Phil B of course).

We were discussing one of their projects with an architect still drawing by hand. Hard to imagine in this day and age. Jeff was making a point about CAD vs BIM. I stopped him right there with those words ringing in my ears. I said "Don't you mean AutoCAD?" When did the word AutoCAD actually get truncated to simply CAD. I broke the word into two pieces, Auto and CAD. I told Jeff I had just started reading the book 'Crossing the Chasm' and it starts out talking about how the marketing people always get blamed for everything.

I think I've discovered a major flaw in the system. First, I made up an new word. I'm calling it AutoBIM. If you're going to have an AutoCAD, then the opposite is AutoBIM. So, here's where I think the architectural industry made a mistake and I'm not entirely sure it's their fault.

When your product starts out with the word 'Auto', you think it's referring to automatic. Like the word automobile. It's an automatic way to be mobile. Makes sense and it's far easier than ManualMobile, known as walking. I sometimes blame the marketing folks at Autodesk for overselling their products. I told Jeff a story that 4 months ago, I had the IT manager at a firm how Revit increased coordination, accuracy and productivity. He immediately said, "Greg, you told me that in 2005 when you were trying to sell me ADT." My response was "yeah, but back then, I was just following the script, Revit really does increase coordination, accuracy and productivity." I've learned a lot in the last 5 years, and one of the biggest things is don't listen to the marketing hype and regurgitate it. I wonder what would have happened if Word and Excel were called AutoWrite and AutoSpreadsheet.

I do have a self cleaning oven, but apparently, it really doesn't self clean. Why do they call it self cleaning if it doesn't start the process automatically. Another overly hyped product. It should be called a 'Self cleaning after you lock the door, turn on the oven and push the self cleaning button' oven.

Back on the subject of 'AutoCAD', I think the problem is architects thought they were getting a program that automated drafting and design. Out of the box, AutoCAD is a very manual and labor intensive program. It takes months or years to get proficent (26 years apparently from all of the AU classes still offered for AutoCAD) and after all that time, it's still a line by line by line process.

I'm sure many not technically savvy principals were expecting something very special for all that money for software, training (you did pay for training didn't you) and hardware. What they did get was clean crisp lines that printed out beautifully.
Jeff and I discussed line weights and how to make plans really stand out. I asked Jeff how many different line weights his firm works with. Waiting for the answer, I did a little quick math having taken a drafting class in college and having 4 mechanical pencils, #3, #5, #7 and #9, Jeff said 4 was the typical number and he told me how much effort is placed on the different line weights for walls, doors, annotations and dimensions.

This whole line weight topic made it even more apparent as to the manual nature of AutoCAD. Many times when I meet with architects, they see Revit, they like Revit, but they refuse to consider the move to Revit. I think it's mostly because they see it as "just another Autodesk product." After 26 years of ManualCAD and then Architectural Desktop, which most everyone uses as plain AutoCAD anyhow, what would be the point for them to learn an entirely new program when they know what they have, accept the shortcomings of it, and who's got any money to spend during the recession anyhow on software, training and implementation?

I think so many architects are so jaded to the marketing hype of Autodesk that I don't make that much of an effort anymore to convince architects to make the switch. I'm wondering if we all start calling it AutoBIM, if that would make a difference.

On the bright side, on Friday, we finished Revit Architecture training for 45 students at Florida International University School of Architecture. We've trained hundreds of students on Revit and they all have a bright future ahead of them. I offered Jeff to have his entire class take our Revit Architecture Essentials class via live webcast. If you know any students or unemployed architects, have them contact me so they can get up to speed in Revit in less than a week.

I'm curious how all of this will play out and how quickly. There needs to be a massive retooling of the architecture and engineering community. On top of learning Revit, there's learning the workflow, collaboration with others, figuring out Integrated Project Delivery and then there's LEED, with its massive amounts of documentation, required energy efficiency calculations and an entirely new way of designing buildings.

What's your plan and timetable? Are you expecting to switch to Revit in the next 3 months or 3 years? It's time to cross the chasm and see that it's not such a far leap. When you've made that decision, take a look at BIMcycle.com and take a look at your future. Don't worry, it's not as scary as it looks. Just ask the Revit Kid. He'll tell you all about it as soon as he's done with his calculus homework.

I was having a meeting with an architect yesterday and I was telling her about the concept of "We all work for the project" (as referenced in this post). I wrote the phrase down on a pad of paper and later during the conversation, I went to write it down again and decided to just write down the first letter of each word.

So, We All Work For The Project became WAWFTP. And there it was...FTP. File Sharing Protocol. What an epiphany. What a concept. Sharing the files and sharing the project. As for the WAW part, sounds like architects crying about having to share the BIM data. I prefer WOW, but we'd have to change to We Objectively Work for the Project. WOW-FTP. Works for me. How about you?

F T P

OK children, you can go back to the crayons and coloring books now and remember that the colors of the crayons and the thickness of the crayon lines are very important. Don't forget to stay inside the lines. For the Revit rest of you, your the model of excellence.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Working with the CIMS Lab at Carleton University and Faro Technologies, we are developing a digital model of our offices in Toronto using Building Information Modeling (BIM). We hope that this model becomes a valuable resource to a community of simulation and modeling researchers.

A central motivation to our work is to foster change from sustainability as an abstract discourse to quantifiable codes and practices. To promote accelerated progress in this field, we are launching a new symposium under the SCS SpringSim multiconference in collaboration with ACM SIGSIM called the Symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design and we will provide the Digital 210 King model to this community. More information will be coming soon...

Over the course of 2009, we will be developing this project website were the Digital 210 King data will be published and related projects will be posted.

September 23, 2009

Creating an accurate model of the 210 King office will be an ongoing, iterative process. Our first attempt at modeling the existing 210 King office building in Revit was a tremendous exercise in filtering through the mountain of information we collected from laser scans, hand drawn sketches, AutoCAD drawings, and onsite inspections. We used the AutoCAD drawings of the building from the time of the renovation as a basis for the model and integrated measurements from the other sources to fill in missing information, such as wall thickness measurements and composition of brick walls.

Our next step was to look for ways to further improve and refine our model of the office building. The first version model acted as a great environment where we could compare and reconcile the complexities of the many existing datasets. However, we agreed that our approach to the problem of modeling an existing building needed to be reviewed. We approached the first model by considering the existing office building as a whole from the very start. Many of the issues we highlighted stemmed from this approach. In our second attempt, we instead thought of the task as though we were designing four new buildings that would later interact. We started the model by building the major party walls defining each of the four buildings, thus embedding a clear conceptual separation among the four existing structures. With each building still being considered separately, we added internal structural components: the pillars, the floors, and major interior walls. As a final step, we created openings in the walls where the buildings now connect to one another.

Sample wall section sketch

By working with wall sections and onsite sketches, we tried to refine the relationship between the existing structures while taking advantage of Revit's parametric capabilities. By establishing the entire building's structural grid and each individual building's structural wall as a datum, we were able to create an overall anatomical setup for interior modeling. Furthermore, we paid more attention to the visual fidelity of our model by creating drawings and rendering outputs throughout the process. In particular, the laser scan data proved invaluable for refining measurements of difficult to reach areas, such as external wall details.

Completed envelopes of the 4 buildings

It is interesting to note that the role of BIM in this project is not fundamentally different than when modeling a new design. We are relying on BIM as a platform to help us speculate about the existing building's construction and rationalize certain assembly configurations. By allowing us to easily experiment, we hope to achieve a higher level of conceptual clarity which will be crucial to accurately simulating the overall performance of the building.

Detail of the structure and floor

We are currently working on adding more detail to the interior of the office, including defining office spaces, work spaces, meeting rooms, and common areas. Stay tuned for further updates.

September 17, 2009, 7:00AM

ELIZABETH LARA/FOR THE STAR-LEDGERThe addition to the science center at Bergen Community College is still under construction.

With construction slowed to a crawl because of the recession, some architects are turning to other sectors less prone to economic swings to boost their fees.

"It's a very brutal economy for architects right now," said Ronald Schmidt, president and chief executive of Ronald Schmidt and Associates in Englewood. "It's horrific. The architect profession is hurting badly."

Nationwide, architecture firms' profits have slipped since the recession's official start in December 2007, as measured by the Architecture Billings Index produced by the American Institute of Architects.

The ABI declined 6 percent in July, compared with the same period in 2008. But that drop was much less severe than that month's decline of 21 percent from July 2007, and the index has shown a slowing falloff.

During the downturn, architectural firms found less work in residential and commercial sectors, but have seen more stability in the institutional area: schools, hospitals, religious and governmental buildings.

"They have been more stable than commercial construction but they still have gotten hard-hit, too," said Kermit Baker, the AIA's chief economist.

North Jersey architecture firms report much of same -- not so much strength, but at least less weakness.

For example, Schmidt's firm has been working on buildings at Bergen Community College, Hackensack University Medical Center and is designing a county juvenile detention facility in Teterboro.

"Anybody who's doing health care or education -- those are the areas that seem to be getting most of the" business lately," Schmidt said.

STIFF COMPETITION

Competition for those dollars is becoming fiercer, with firms not used to doing business in the area trying to make inroads, some local architecture firms also report.

Whereas fewer than 10 firms might bid on a project three years ago, these days there are often twice the number, said Fay William Logan, a managing principal of SNS Architects & Engineering in Montvale, which is completing work on the fifth floor of the business school at Ramapo College in Mahwah.

"Everybody in the world bids for anything," he said.

Increased competition has forced firms to slash fees. That means savings for school districts, hospitals and governments, but slimmer profit margins for architecture firms. Schmidt said his firm sometimes just breaks even.

It's also leading to fewer jobs. Unadjusted figures from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development show that in July there were about 39,700 jobs in the category of architectural, enginering and related services -- down from about 41,700 in that field in July 2008.

While architects could count on a relatively stable flow of business from institutional clients, that reliability started to give way late last year, according to the ABI.

NO HELP FROM STIMULUS PROGRAMS

Firms also haven't seen much benefit from federal economic stimulus programs, said Baker, the architecture trade group's economist. He estimated that only about $20 billion in stimulus funds would flow to construction projects over the next couple years -- not enough, he said, to significantly boost the industry.

Only 15 percent of architecture firms surveyed by the AIA have worked on projects funded by the stimulus, Baker said.

"Most of the architecture firms are feeling almost no benefit from this," he said.

Meanwhile, school projects -- such as a new high school swimming pool in Lyndhurst and repairs and renovations at high schools in Demarest and Old Tappan -- have been keeping DMR Architects in Hasbrouck Heights busy, said president and chief executive Lloyd Rosenberg.

The Lyndhurst district has been approved for $550,000 in stimulus funds to offset costs of the project, said Joseph Abate Jr., the district's superintendent and business administrator.

Rosenberg anticipates benefiting from distress in commercial real estate. As some office buildings go through foreclosure, Rosenberg expects his firm will get a share of the work or renovate interiors to ready the buildings for leasing or sale.

This is a great post from Jason Dodds of Autodesk. You all now know you have to embrace BIM. These are some guidelines on how to open the door and take that first step. I've been trying to do this through my blog for the past 2.5 years, so anyone who wants assistance or guidance, please email me and I'll help you go in the right direction. My company has created a number of classes on BIM for Construction. Unfortunately, Autodesk doesn't have any official training materials, so we took the initiative to do this to help contractors and subcontractors learn BIM specifically for their industry.

Our key goal is to offer the guidance so you don't go down the wrong path, make mistakes, or hit dead ends with BIM. Even the smallest amount of using BIM is a stepping stone to building up to full BIM for Construction. If you thought BIM for architecture hasn't been adopted, BIM for construction has even less of a history to follow. Everyone's just trying to figure it out on their own. Since everyone has their own workflow and methodology in their GC/Sub business, there's a lot of customization available to tailor BIM for your business. On the other hand, you have the option of forgetting everything you've been doing and learn a whole new workflow with Revit and BIM. We're just here to help you figure it out and offer the expertise based on your business. I'm so glad my company got into this early on. Sure makes it easier to have actual implementation experience with contractors and subs so you don't make the same mistakes others have made. Enough about me....here's Jason's post:

http://doddsandends.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/getting-started-with-bim.html
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This may very well be the number 1 question I get asked every week. So I would like to offer a brief bit of insight into getting started with BIM. I personally find for every organization its different. It could be as simple as starting with Model Coordination, Building Quantification or Clash Detection. What I think is important is to understand the needs of the organization, create a plan and know where you want to go. then figure out how to get there.Art Theusch from Chrisman Construction says “BIM will not magically build the building for you, BIM is only as powerful as the people and processes that you apply to the tools. The tools are exciting and powerful, and in simple terms they enhance your ability to communicate to your team. No matter how well you think you know the building it is impossible to visualize the project from 2D plans. Countless times I have been able to communicate the heart of an issue when I can tell the story in 3D.

“The easiest way to get started is in 3D coordination, the required skill sets can be taught with the proper training and the benefits far out weight the cost. You don’t need to have a team of CAD users to break into the BIM world. If your company does not have the ideal person on staff, one option is to hire a consultant to walk with you through your first BIM project. Once you have been lead through this process once, then you will have a better idea of the skills your team needs to lead on the next project.”

Kevin Miller from BYU has this to add "The tools for estimating from the BIM model have developed enough to where estimators can work in both the 3D and 2D worlds allowing the estimator to perform a complete takeoff in this hybrid environment."

Laura Handler Virtual Construction Manager with Tocci Building has these bits of advice to offer
"Leverage relationships with architects. Develop relationships with architects. Never mind that BIM is collaborative so it just makes sense; it is actually easier to implement BIM on a project if the architect is 'on your team"

"Pair technical excited entry levels (and pick the right one..young doesn’t not equal right for your first BIM project) with experienced superintendents and PMs"

"Everyone says this, but pick your first project carefully. Pick something that will succeed so that people will want to do more BIM. Pick how you’re going to use BIM carefully. Don’t try to do everything (you will fail, if you do). They call clash detection low hanging fruit for a reason."

"Apply the principles of change management to getting into BIM. Take a class or read a book to really understand change management in general. Understand and accept that you are going to make a significant change to the way you to do business."

And finally I would like to offer this bit of advice to:

Do your research and understand what solutions best fit your needs

Create a plan, strategy, and someone to lead it - identify a project to implement your plan on

Identify the "low hanging" fruit for your company and start there (Navisworks or maybe QTO)

Issue

When launching Revit 2010 products you receive the following error:

Revit then fails to start.

Solution

Please verify if your computer's processor utilizes the SSE2 instruction set. This issue can be caused by a processor that is incompatible with this Instruction set.
Please referr to our system requirements page. Autodesk Revit 2010 products require a Intel® Pentium® 4 1.4 GHz processor, which supports SSE2, or a equivalent AMD® processor.
If you still encounter this problem utilizing a processor with SSE2, please attempt the following and contact Autodesk Product Support or your local reseller for assistance:

Thursday, September 24, 2009

They're here...The subcontractors have fully arrived at BIM.Personally, our company has implemented Revit MEP at 8 electrical contractors around Florida in the past few months. I'm not sure why they've all demanded we help them with BIM, but I think it's the contractors requiring Revit Submittals.

Of course, these examples will be a big part of my Autodesk University class in December.

Verify the ProductInformation.pit file is present• Navigate to the following folder:Windows XP > C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\AdlmWindows Vista > C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Adlm• Ensure the ProductInformation.pit file is present in the folder.

After the steps above are complete restart the workstation and launch Revit. If the workstation cannot obtain a license move onto the steps below:

Delete the Revit licpath.lic file.• File is located > C:\Program Files\Revit Product\Program\Licpath.lic. Substitute Revit Product with the specific Revit folder name.• This file can be restored from the Recycle Bin after testing if needed.

Restart the workstation and launch Revit. If the workstation still cannot obtain a license please collect the following files and log a support request through Subscription Center or contact your reseller:

Great news for the 12 Mac users out there using Revit. Can't wait to see the press release about Windows 7 being offficially supported. Anthony, I know...you're working on it....I just wish the 96% Windows OS users would get more support than the few Mac users. Maybe Autodesk doesn't like Bill Gates. I know...let's get Revit to work on a Google product.

>http://autodesk.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=118&item=638

Autodesk and Parallels Team to Support Mac Virtualization for AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, Autodesk Inventor Professional, 3ds Max and Revit Software
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, and Parallels, a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software, announced that they have signed an agreement to make Parallels Desktop for Mac Autodesk's preferred Mac virtualization software.
Autodesk will now support use of AutoCAD software, AutoCAD LT software, Autodesk Inventor Professional software, Autodesk 3ds Max software, Autodesk 3ds Max Design software and the Autodesk Revit software platform for building information modeling (BIM) on Mac OS X via Parallels Desktop. Autodesk added official support for these products on the Mac via Boot Camp earlier this year.
"Autodesk customers are increasingly working with both Mac and Windows, and have asked us to support Mac virtualization," said Chris Bradshaw, Autodesk chief marketing officer. "Today we are pleased to welcome Parallels as a partner and Parallels Desktop as our preferred Mac virtualization software. This is the latest step in Autodesk's ongoing efforts to support our customers on the Mac, who will now be able to use some of our most popular 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software alongside Mac OS X, in addition to the five native Mac applications we currently offer."
"Parallels Desktop for Mac enables over two million users to run Windows-based applications seamlessly and simply on their Mac," said Serguei Beloussov, chief executive officer of Parallels. "Autodesk has a long history of creating innovative and industry-leading software for design, engineering and entertainment, and we've heard many requests from customers interested in using their Autodesk applications with Parallels. We are delighted to partner with Autodesk to help make this software more broadly available to the Mac community."
With the launch of the Autodesk Alias family of software for Mac OS X earlier this year, Autodesk now offers six native Mac OS X applications for the entertainment, multimedia and design industries, including Autodesk SketchBook Pro, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Mudbox and Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited software. For more information about Autodesk Mac support, visit http://www.autodesk.com/mac.

About Parallels -- Optimized Computing
Parallels is a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software that optimizes computing for consumers, businesses and cloud services providers across all major hardware, operating systems and virtualization platforms. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with 700 employees in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.parallels.com.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Great news everyone. Now you'll have more free time to get up to speed with BIM and LEED. On the really lame news, banks are not lending money. This is a huge problem to get the industry kick started. I met with a friend of mine last week who has a group of private investors. They're looking for projects on hold to invest in. If you know of any BIM projects that are shovel ready and on hold for funding, let me know and I'll put you in contact with the group. They're only willing to invest in BIM projects so they don't have to worry about all of the delays and change orders from 2D projects. I may have had a little something to do with that, but there's less risk on BIM projects. If they're LEED projects, even better.

>http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/CA6698365.html?nid=2886

Another stall in the recovery for the construction industry as the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) dropped to its lowest level since June. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the August ABI rating was 41.7, down slightly from 43.1 in July. This score indicates a decline in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).

As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending.

“While there have been occasional signs of optimism over the last few months, the overwhelming majority of architects are reporting that banks are extremely reluctant to provide financing for projects, and that new equity requirements and conservative appraisals are making it even more difficult for developers to get loans,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Until the anxiety within the financial community eases, these conditions are likely to continue.”

About the AIA Architecture Billings IndexThe Architecture Billings Index is derived from a monthly “Work-on-the-Boards” survey and produced by the AIA Economics & Market Research Group. Based on a comparison of data compiled since the survey’s inception in 1995 with figures from the Department of Commerce on Construction Put in Place, the findings amount to a leading economic indicator that provides an approximately nine to twelve month glimpse into the future of nonresidential construction activity.